The Surprise
by RiotGirl04
Summary: FOR REST OF STORY CHECK IT OUT UNDER OTHER PEN NAME DOMINIQUE1! THIS PEN NAME IS NO LONGER IN USE! GO NOW! (AND LEAVE A REVIEW!)
1. They're Back!

The Surprise A/N: Ok so basically I was re-reading this story and I realised that the in the first couple of chapters the writing wasn't very good so I've re- written and re-posted all of the chapters, one every few days and then the whole story will be in the same place and better and I can get on with the new chapters!  
  
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Chapter 1: They're baack!  
  
Logan was excited. Max and Alec would be getting back today. Not that he cared if Alec ever came back but he was really looking forward to seeing Max again. They had left over a year ago for Vancouver where "New Manticore" would begin the new breeding and training programs.  
  
When Logan had found out this information, he knew that Max and Alec would be going to destroy it but he thought it would only take them a few weeks, but when the two transgenics sat down and worked everything out they had both concluded it would take them eight months in total to make sure Manticore would be gone for good.  
  
For the first month or so he had gotten weekly calls from Max but they gradually became monthly calls and then during one call Max informed him they would probably be an extra five months. She hadn't explained why but Logan knew it must have been something big to hold two transgenics back that amount of time.  
  
The rare time that she did call him however, she always sounded distracted and he got the feeling that she was rushing him of the phone. He had heard nothing form her for the past two months and he didn't even know that she was coming home until Original Cindy mentioned it to him assuming that he already knew. He knew that something strange was going on but he didn't know what nor did he care just as long as he had her back.  
  
So he had planned a romantic meal for two where he could catch up with his 'beloved' and listen intently to all she had to say so that she would fall in love with him all over again.  
  
He sighed contently at the thought then looked at the clock. 'Three O' Clock already,' he thought to himself. According to OC she would be back at half. He rushed into the kitchen to put on the pasta then started to set the table as he knew that his apartment would be her first port of call when she got back into town.  
  
_______________________******______________________  
  
OC ran to the door when she heard the timid knock. She gave a delighted squeal as she threw her arms around Max. "Good to see you too OC," said Max returning the hug.  
  
OC stood back letting Max in, then closed the door as Max threw herself on the couch. "It's been far too long Boo! Wow you must travel really light 'cause I don't see any of your stuff," OC said as she sat down beside her.  
  
Max grinned, "I just dumped all my stuff at Alec's then came right over, I really missed you, Alec wasn't really one for girly talks."  
  
"I wouldn't think so," said OC, "So what's new with you? Did you kick Manticore's ass or what?"  
  
"Damn straight we did, now there is absolutely NO WAY for them to even think about building another Manticore and well... quite a bit's new with me actually."  
  
"Spill," said OC sensing that something was up.  
  
Max took a deep breath, "Well you see when we were away . . ."  
  
She was cut off by the sound of the phone ringing.  
  
"Hold that thought Boo," said OC getting up and walking over to the phone.  
  
"This better be important," she snapped down the phone, annoyed that the first time she had seen Max in over a year was being ruined by someone ringing.  
  
//OC, its Logan. Its half four and Max still isn't here. I'm beginning to get worried, have you heard from her?//  
  
"Yeah, she is here right now."  
  
"Who is it?" Max mouthed over to her.  
  
When Original Cindy mouthed 'Logan' Max frowned and found a piece of paper to write on while Logan continued to interrogate OC about Max with questions like //'Is she all right? Why didn't you tell me that she was there? etc.'//  
  
Max got up and put the bit of paper in OC's hand where she had scribbled the words 'Just hang up. I can't deal with him right now.'  
  
OC was confused but never the less did what Max said. "Look Logan I gotta go," she said hurriedly, hanging up on him before he got a chance to object. Max lifted her coat, grabbed OC by the wrist, and headed towards the door. "Come on. He will head over here now looking for me. We can talk at Alec's." With that, OC and Max left the apartment closing the door behind them.  
  
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"Hello, Hello? OC? Are you there?" Aggravated, Logan hung up the phone and started dialling again. No answer. He tried another ten times before slamming the phone down in frustration. 'Why is Max avoiding me?' He lifted his jacket, blew out the candles at the table with two plates of now cold pasta on them, and headed over to Original Cindy's.  
  
_______________________**********************________________________  
  
"Now what was all that about?" asked OC as they entered Alec's building. "I thought you and Logan were soul mates and all that and now you aren't even talking to him?" she asked clearly confused.  
  
"It's complicated OC," said Max with a sigh.  
  
"Well you better un complicate it for me 'cause you are not leaving me in the dark on this."  
  
OC stopped walking and put her hands on her hips as they reached Alec's door. Max sighed as she pulled a key out from her pocket which raised OC's eyebrows. "I'll explain everything inside," she said opening the door and holding it open for her best friend.  
  
"You better," said OC entering the apartment.  
  
When inside Max flung her jacket to the side and set her keys on the table then went straight to the bedroom. When she came out she put her finger up to her lips. "Shush!" she said to OC who was now sitting on the couch making herself comfortable. "Alec's asleep," she explained, closing the bedroom door as quietly as she could. "He drove all the way back."  
  
"I'm surprised that he is back at all! I mean a whole year jus you and him. I wasn't expecting him back at all, I was pretty confident that you were going to snap about a week or so in and killed him! You could have at least brought him back in little pieces! You bad-ass rep could go down the drain! I mean he drives you mad when he's on good behaviour, never mind having to live with him for over a year!"  
  
"Yeah well a lot has happened this year, I don't really know were to begin," said Max.  
  
"Well why don't you start by explaining to me why you are sitting her with me, at Alec's instead of dining with Mr. Eyes Only?" suggested OC.  
  
"We found the cure."  
  
"Good for you boo! So when exactly are you letting your face in on the good news and why aren't you celebrating with Logan?"  
  
"I don't want to tell him 'cause if I do he will want to get back together!" said Max clearly frustrated.  
  
"And you don't want to do that?" OC said OC who was getting more confused by the second.  
  
"Exactly. Look OC when we were out there . . . " began Max.  
  
All of a sudden crying came from the bedroom followed by a loud groan. A few seconds later OC watched in amazement as Alec came into the room bouncing a baby in his arms.  
  
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	2. Explanations well sort of

The Surprise  
  
Summary to this chapter: Max sits OC down and tries to explain what happened in Vancouver.  
  
Chapter 2 Revised: Explanations.....well sort of.  
  
_________________________*********_____________________  
  
OC's eyes widened in shock and for the first time in her life, Original Cindy was speechless.  
  
"Um...hi, OC," said Alec sheepishly, though secretly enjoying the sight of Original Cindy's mouth hanging open like that. OC opened and closed her mouth repeatedly for five minutes attempting to think of something to say but the only sound in the room was the baby crying.  
  
"Here, give her to me," said Max walking over to Alec with her arms ready to receive the baby, then making 'cooing noises' when she did. OC's expression changed from shock to anger when her brain finally registered what was happening. "Boo! Why didn't you tell me?" were the first words she could manage.  
  
Not waiting on an answer, she charged over to Alec and slapped him around the back of the head. "And you! You selfish pig! You knock my girl up?" she asked though it was really more of a statement than a question. She slapped him again then headed back towards the sofa. "I need to sit down."  
  
Max couldn't help but grin at OC's reaction. "I guess I'd better explain. What exactly do you want to know?" she asked trying to keep a straight face.  
  
"Well first of all why didn't you tell me, I mean we talked on the phone all the time and I'm pretty sure you didn't mention it once, 'cause I sure as hell would have remembered you telling me that!"  
  
"I didn't really know how to," Max began, "I mean I couldn't just ring you up and say 'Hey OC how's it going? By the way, I'm pregnant. For some reason it didn't have the right ring to it."  
  
"So this's why you were avoiding Logan," said OC, everything finally making sense, well as much sense as it was going to make to her at this particular moment in time. "And I suppose it's also the reason why yous took an extra four and a half months," OC said calming down a little bit.  
  
"Yeah, once I found out I was pregnant Alec didn't want me going on the late night raids but I did anyway up until I reached seven months but the Alec insisted on doing it by himself which meant it was going to take twice the remaining amount of time," she explained.  
  
The baby had finally stopped crying and was drifting back to sleep so Max gave her back to Alec. "I'm putting her back in her cot then I'm going back to bed. See you later OC," he said, still half asleep as he headed back into the bedroom.  
  
"So are you and Alec together now?" Original Cindy asked as she noticed her best friend watching Alec walking away.  
  
"Yes . . . are you mad that I didn't tell you?" Max asked sitting back down beside OC.  
  
"Just let me know one thing, straight up, are you happy?"  
  
"Extremely."  
  
"Then no. I will admit that Original Cindy was mad and first but it was mostly shock. So spill, how did this all happen?"  
  
"Aren't you supposed to get this talk from your mother?" said Max  
smiling.  
  
"What the whole 'When two people love each other very much . . .' thing?"  
  
Max nodded.  
  
"Well that's the bit Original Cindy doesn't get. Before yous went off gallivanting, you were ready to kill each other! I mean I know they say that there is a fine line between love and hate but don't you think you two are pushing that theory just a little?"  
  
"See that's the thing, I don't think I ever really hated Alec, he was just the easiest person to blame for, well, everything I suppose!"  
  
"So what changed your perspective?"  
  
"A lot of things I guess, like simply spending time with him without already having decided that I was pissed of with him and just getting to know him. After spending some quality time with him I realised that I had never really taken the time to get to know him properly and when I did found out that I liked him a lot more than I thought. You know he's not really the bad ass he likes to think he is. "  
  
"Hold it there is the same guy we are talkin' bout Boo? The Alec I know is selfish and always looking out for number one. That's why you were always bitching about him."  
  
"Look I thought he was like that too. But I'll tell you the real turning point for me. About a month in, we were on our usual nightly raid. It was just supposed to be like all the other ones. Get in, get more info on their plans and weaknesses and get out. You'd be surprised at how easy it was, we weren't even spotted, which I know was a good thing but I was expecting a challenge but anyway.  
  
This night we were planning to grab the files from the lab computer, about all of the transgenics ever created and plans for the new ones. Well I was supposed to download the file onto the disk while Alec did watch out a few corridors away on the guard's station. But after I finished downloading I came across the security system and I tried to bypass it so that we could access it from the laptop we had but I did the wrong thing and set of the alarms that sent guards in my direction through the shortcut to where I was that we didn't know about at the time. Alec heard this and broke into the nearest room to set off alarms in there to take the heat of me. When he saw me near the exit he told me to get out, for me to get out that was all that mattered. I couldn't believe it but what I found even harder to believe was how worried I was about him. He stayed there and fought the guards while I just jumped out a window to safety. I felt so guilty. I was never more relieved in my entire life than when he walked into our apartment half an hour later."  
  
Original Cindy sat in awed silence, she had always guesses that underneath he had a bit of a soft spot for the woman who was always beating him up but she didn't think it was anything of that extent.  
  
"So then what?" she asked genuinely intrigued. How exactly did you go from realising he was a nice guy to playing Happy Families with him?"  
  
"Well when he returned that night . . ." she started, as she began to recollect the events of that night.  
  
~~~#FLASHBACK#~~~  
  
When she heard the door opening, she ran over, flung her arms around Alec, and hugged him so tight that after a minute he had to say, "Max I may be an X5 and all but much longer of this all the air will be squeezed out of me and then no more Alec, and we all know what a shame that would be."  
  
She reluctantly let go and then pulled herself back to arms length to inspect his body for injuries. He had a minor cut on his head and there was a slight tear in his jacket but apart from that, he seemed fine. "You know Max, I know I'm hot and all but I'm sure you could've found a better time to check me out."  
  
He laughed as she hit him on the shoulder where thanks to her there was a permanent bruise, but she couldn't help but grin the way he managed to make light of every situation. "I'm off to bed, see you tomorrow Maxie."  
  
As he took off his jacket and flung it on to a near by chair Max gasped as she saw blood rushing from his arm from the area where there had been a hole in his jacket. "What?" asked Alec turning round.  
  
"You're bleeding; I'll go get the supplies."  
  
She headed towards the bathroom and came back with bandages, tweezers, cotton wool and antiseptic. "Take off your shirt," she ordered. "Geez Max you certainly do pick your moments," he remarked, earning himself a whack around the back of his head so he decided to do as he was told.  
  
~~~#End Flashback#~~~  
  
The door knocking interrupted her. "Why am I always been interrupted tonight?"  
  
"Yeah," mumbled OC, "and always when you are getting to the good part." Max opened the door and as she expected she found Logan there.  
  
"Max," he whispered. He looked relieved at first then all of a sudden, he became angry. "What are you doing here Max?"  
  
"Logan, keep your voice down," she said in a loud whisper realising he might wake the baby and probably Alec, and then there would be hell to pay. Logan however, paid no attention to her and continued to shout.  
  
"No, why should I? Why didn't you call me when you got back? Why didn't you call me when you were away for that matter? I was worried out of my mind when I rang OC's and she hung up, it thought White had found you!"  
  
As he continued to yell at her, Max retreated to the sofa where OC had planted herself, realising that there was no way around it and allowed Logan to enter the apartment. Max winced as he slammed the door behind him and moments later the now familiar sound of crying reached her ears.  
  
"And Alec's? You are at Alec's after spending over a . . ." He stopped as he too heard the crying. "Now you've done it," muttered OC.  
  
"Max what is that sound?" He asked bewildered.  
  
"Logan there is something you should know..."  
  
A/N: next chapter in a few days, possibly tomorrow, it really depends on how much coursework I plan on avoiding! ____________ 


	3. True Colours or Gay Boy Logan ur choice

The Surprise  
  
A/N: Thanks for all the reviews they really helped, all questions that were asked are answered at the bottom the chapter!  
  
Chapter 3  
  
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"What the hell was that?"  
  
Max considered explaining and finishing her sentence but why should she? 'I'm still explaining it to OC and if he isn't smart enough to figure out what's making that noise that's not my problem,' she thought stubbornly, folding her arms.  
  
Logan repeated it again with a new level of uncertainty in his voice. "Max what was that sound? What the hell was that?" he demanded when she didn't reply. Ignoring him Max got up and headed to the bedroom, to hush the baby and tell Alec to go back to sleep.  
  
Logan was in shock. He knew fine rightly what that sound was, his tiny brain was just refused to accept it. He tried to come up with a reasonable explanation for it that didn't include Max jumping into bed with Alec. He failed.  
  
OC watched on amusedly, especially enjoying his reaction now that she was in the loop. After getting the baby back to sleep and making sure Alec was still asleep, she came back out, closing the bedroom door as quietly as possible behind her.  
  
'What is he doing? He's just standing there!' She walked over to him silently willing him to say anything other than . . . "What the hell was that?" he asked interrupting her thoughts with perfect timing to prove her point.  
  
Seemingly unaware of his surroundings, Logan remained in a daze until a now frustrated Max clicked her fingers in front of his face demanding his attention. "Logan, snap out of it!" He finally acknowledged her presence by using what currently appeared to be the only words in his vocabulary; "What the hell was that?"  
  
Max felt anger rising up inside of her. "That, as you so simply put it, is mine and Alec's daughter, Jen." Max's anger was only increased by Logan mumbling about her 'disloyalty' and not expecting her to be able to hear.  
  
"And not that it is any of your business but Alec and I are together now so get over it. And as far as loyalty is concerned I told you ages ago, well over a year now in fact that you and I were over."  
  
"What about everything I have done for you?"  
  
"Excuse me? Everything you have done for me? I went on all those little missions you asked of me, I risked my life every other friggen week for you and all I asked was that you located my brothers and sisters for me which you never did! So thank you for letting me be your personal cat burglar but no thanks."  
  
"How can you say that Max? It's Alec, he's poisoned you mind, you love me really, I know it! He has turned you into an ungrateful wench."  
  
Fuelled by anger Max slapped him across the face. Logan was horrified and OC had a huge smirk on her face. Logan put his hand up to his face and started shrieking.  
  
"Max, Max! The virus! Your killing me!"  
  
He flung himself up against the wall then slid down onto the floor where he curled himself up into a ball and began to rock back and forth, tears poring down his face.  
  
"This is it; there will be no more Eyes Only! Who will look out for the common people now? I can feel the poison seeping into my blood stream, your killing me! You killed the only free voice left in this city." By this point OC was in fits of laughter and even Max had started smiling. "Peace out," Logan whispered as he closed his eyes and stopped screaming.  
  
"Get up you fool!" said Max lifting him of the floor. She hurried him out the door. "I cured the virus, so cut the hysterics you melodramatic Prima Donna!" With that, she closed the door in his startled face.  
  
Hearing a chuckle, she turned around to see a sleepy looking Alec standing with his arms crossed. "I always though he was gay." He said simply.  
  
"Did I wake you up?"  
  
"Yeah but it was totally worth it to see that."  
  
Walking over to him Max wrapped her arms around him and leaned in for a kiss. "Woah!" yelled OC. "Still not used to that yet so can you cut that out for just a min. I'll adjust eventually don't worry, it's been a very uh, interesting night to say the least."  
  
OC got up and grabbed her coat. "Look, I've gotta blaze, all the excitement has tired me out ya know, so I'll catch ya tomorrow Boo." She gave Max a hug. "Its good to have ya back boo. We can finish that little discussion then and please no more shocks, for a while anyway. Original Cindy's system couldn't handle another one. Oh and Alec, be good to my girl cause I like you and don't want to have to put the smack down on your ass."  
  
Alec smiled, knowing that even with her army training OC would be not match for him. When OC left Logan was still whimpering in the corridor and upon seeing Max he yelled, "What about the pasta?!" but Max paid no attention and closed the door, disgusted that she had ever loved him.  
  
"So what are we going to do tomorrow? We can't both go to work," said Max knowing that as much as she didn't want to they had to start being practical.  
  
"I'll go in and you can stay here and mind Jen," stated Alec simply.  
  
Max became very pissed off very fast. It didn't matter that was her preferred scenario but he fact that Alec had just assumed that that was how it was going to be annoyed her. Alec obviously had some sexist idea in his head that men went out to work while the women stayed at how washing and cleaning and raising the children. She had to put a stop to that now.  
  
"Excuse me? The last time I checked we were living in the year 2024 and women had equal rights and did not just sit about the house all day waiting for their . . ." An amused Alec cut her off.  
  
"Maxie, no need for the women's lib speech, seriously, I didn't mean it that way. I mean think about it. We left for over a year without saying a word to Normal. Who is more likely to get our jobs back?"  
  
Max smiled ashamed that she had assumed the worst from Alec, a particularly nasty habit she had seemed to pick up when she first met him and was having a hard time stopping.  
  
"I mean if I go in well he will be ecstatic. His Golden Boy has returned, Hallelujah, praise the Lord! However if you go why it's just 'missy miss' approximately 11,763 hours late for work!"  
  
"Sorry, I get carried away sometimes," Max said feeling a little embarrased.  
  
"I guessed that."  
  
He pulled her into a big bear hug and rested his head on top of her smelling her freshly washed hair. They stayed like that for a while, content in each other's embrace only pulling away when Alec started laughing. "What?"  
  
"I'm just thinking about Logan."  
  
"Well whatever does it for you."  
  
"Oh come on Max his reaction was classic!"  
  
"It was pretty funny," she admitted.  
  
"Funny? It was bloody hysterical!"  
  
"Ok you're totally right, what the hell was I thinking? And no more English sitcoms for you!"  
  
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There ya go so please review! Ok so here are the answers to the questions I got asked in reviews.  
  
Jane: Yes, this is the same story and thanks for reading again. I decided to re-post the story because I made a few changes and it's under a different account and stuff so . . . ya know. And don't worry the new chapters are currently being written!  
  
Sock brain: No, the original was never finished but will be very soon! I just felt that because I haven't updated in so long that people would need their memories refreshed and apparently I was right!  
  
Thanks once again for all the reviews! Much appreciated! **cough* do it again*cough** ( 


	4. Back To Normal

Chapter 4: Back to Normal  
  
A/N: Here it is oh and in case anyone was actually wondering don't worry the story does develop some actual plot soon . . . I swear.  
  
______________________*****_________________________  
  
"Oh my God! I don't believe it!"  
  
Alec had to suppress his laughter as Normal threw himself onto the floor in front of him. Just when he thought that he was going to start kissing his toes Normal finally got up but only to fling his arms around Alec.  
  
"Golden boy your back!"  
  
His amusement changed to disgust and Alec had to try his best not to shudder when his former boss tightened his grip. Five minutes later when Normal showed no signs of breaking the hug Alec realised that something had to be done. "Normal I won't be back for long if you don't get off me, right now," and miraculously Alec had his own personal space back within a matter of seconds.  
  
"So can I have my job back then?" he asked pretty sure he knew what the answer would be, but he had to butter him up to get him to take Max back.  
  
"Hell yeah! I missed you ya know. With you back I will be able to get a break from the good for nothing miscreants that 'work' here."  
  
"Oh and can Max have hers back too?" Alec asked, pouting in an attempt to seal the deal.  
  
"Oh so missy miss is back as well. So why isn't she here?" asked Normal folding his arms. "I mean the two of you just disappeared for over a year without a word, I'm assuming yous were at the same place, and yous just come back wanting your old jobs back. I mean you, being the wonderful human being that you are, had the decency to come and ask for your job back in person, not that you needed to ask but still. So what did she have to do that was so important that she couldn't come beg in person?"  
  
Alec smiled, this would be fun.  
  
______________________***************_____________________  
  
"Boo?" called OC as she walked into Max and Alec's apartment. Normal had been so happy to have his Golden Boy back that she had asked him if she could have the rest of the day of and he had actually said yes. Alec had felt bad for dropping the baby bomb on Normal so was working to the end of the day to make up for it, as he felt that he had been chancing his arm anyway.  
  
OC wanted to talk to Max before he came rushing home to see his daughter as she was now sure he would. She still couldn't believe how much he had changed. She would have never in a million years have pictured Alec as a family guy and yet when catching up with Sketchy and the rest of his friends he spent a lot of the time telling them about Jen.  
  
"I'm in here OC!"  
  
OC found Max in the kitchen with Jen in one arm resting her head on her shoulder as Max heated some milk in a saucepan.  
  
For the first time OC noticed just how pretty Jen was. She already had a head full of dark hair and Max's colouring but she had Alec's bright blue eyes with flecks of green in them that would become more noticeable through time.  
  
"Why aren't you a cute boo now that you're awake and not crying?" said OC bending over so that she was level with her. "Can I hold her?"  
  
"Be my guest."  
  
Max watched with a smile as OC took Jen and sat down bouncing her on her knee. "Her milk is ready, if I put it in a bottle for you do you want to feed it to her?" she said taking the saucepan of the cooker.  
  
"I think we have more immediate problems right now."  
  
Max turned round to see a look of distaste on OC's face as she sniffed Jen while scrunching up her nose.  
  
___________________****************______________________  
  
"Hey Alec! Are you going to Crash tonight?" asked Sketchy, running to catch his friend before he left for the day.  
  
"Nah Sketch, don't think so."  
  
"Why?"  
  
Alec looked at Sketchy with one eyebrow raised and an expression on his face that clearly indicated that he thought Sketchy was mad. "Have you heard a single word I've said today?" he asked wondering if Sketchy just had started having memory lapses instead of being completely thick.  
  
"Oh well," said Sketchy catching on. "So how about we come round to yours? A few drinks, a few friends, a bit of music. What do you say?"  
  
'No, just completely thick' Alec sighed mentally. "Sketchy, it is blatantly obvious that the very idea of a baby goes right over your head. They need constant care and attention and as much peace and quiet as possible, especially at night which is a time were you pray with all your might that they sleep for more than three hours at a time, which by the way the usually don't."  
  
"Well do you wanna go for a few drinks now?" asked Sketchy hopefully.  
  
"Sorry dude, I have to go relieve Max of parental duties."  
  
After seeing the hurt look on his face, Alec went on trying to reach a compromise. "I know you just want to see your friends so I will see if I can talk Max into going to Crash tonight and you can catch up then ok? See ya later!"  
  
Alec walked off leaving a bewildered Sketchy. "So is that a no?"  
  
___________________***************__________________  
  
"There!" said OC holding Jen up triumphantly. Max had spent the past fifteen minutes showing OC how to change a nappy because OC said that she had wanted to learn so that she could baby-sit and give Max and Alec a chance to get out together.  
  
OC's face dropped when the nappy slid right off and Max started laughing. "Stop it! Just cause you have maternal instincts doesn't mean that Original Cindy is going to be a natural at this."  
  
"Well I wasn't too bad but . . ." Max's face lit up at the memory of it. "Well let's just say that you are a 'pro' compared to the first time Alec did it. Now that was funny!" She wiped away imaginary tears of laughter before deciding to help OC out by fixing Jen's nappy.  
  
"He was just so frustrated, he went through a whole pack trying to get one to stay on and when he couldn't he was just like 'We got a faulty pack! I thought they were a bit cheap.' He refused to accept hat he couldn't do it! I mean one time he put it on backwards the next upside down and God knows what else! Poor Jen, she didn't know what the hell was going on, cause I couldn't even help him cause I was laughing that hard! And the harder I laughed the madder he got and the madder he got the harder I laughed. He was like 'it's not like they took me out of sniper training and taught me how to change nappies!' It was just so damn funny! In the end he got a roll of sellotape and kept wrapping it round and round, we had to cut her out of it later! "  
  
"Well that makes me feel better knowing a soldier that was trained from no age couldn't do it either . . . a bit anyway." OC admitted. "It's good to know that I'm not the only one not naturally good with babies."  
  
"So did Alec get our jobs back?" asked Max.  
  
"Of course, Normal quite literally fell down on to his knees when he saw Alec. He wasn't exactly ecstatic bout you, but still. We're all glad though cause he is so happy that he is letting people do what ever they want. You should have seen his face when Alec told him about you and Jen. It was classic!"  
  
"It's good to know that Alec's charms still work on Normal, always comes in handy," said Max mentally picturing the scene OC had described with a wide grin on her face.  
  
"I should warn ya boo, Normal's not the only one glad to have Alec back as a few of the Jam Pony females showed today. They were hanging all over him."  
  
"I'll kill them and then kick Alec's ass all the way back to Canada!" exclaimed Max, standing up, ready to go.  
  
OC laughed at her best friend's reaction. "Sit down you fool, you've got nothing to worry about girl, Alec set them straight. I hate to admit it but I was surprised and touched at the same time, he's totally devoted to ya Max. you've really struck gold with this one."  
  
"Yeah I know and it's weird cause he was under my nose all that time," said Max sitting back down, slightly embarrassed.  
  
"You, however will have to watch out there, you seemed a little too eager to believe that Alec was being disloyal," observed OC.  
  
"Yeah, bad habit, I think I kind of miss ragging on him and threatening to kick his ass all the time!" laughed Max, handing Jen back to OC.  
  
"Huh, I coulda swore this child just grinned at me, exactly like Alec does!"  
  
______________________*************_____________________  
  
Logan sat in front of his computer staring blankly at the screen. He was still getting over the shock of the night before. 'How could she have chosen him over me?' He had spent the day comparing himself to Alec and had begun to think that there must have been something wrong with the air in Canada.  
  
'Why else would she have gotten together with Alec?' That was when he thought of something he hadn't before. 'She must have been in heat! Yes, that was the only reasonable explanation. Otherwise, she wouldn't have left an incredibly handsome do-gooder like himself for a good for nothing screw up like Alec.  
  
He immediately began to plan a way to get her back and to make her see the error of her ways.  
  
________________________***************__________________  
  
When Alec entered his apartment, he heard Max and OC talking in the kitchen.  
  
". . . and then Alec goes 'Yeah, if it wasn't for the fact that you just tried to kill me and Max here, I'm sure that we would be the best of friends,' then kicked his ass Manticore style."  
  
OC smiled. "Well if Original Cindy could only say one thing bout the boy it would be that he does have a sense of humour."  
  
"Why thank you OC I do try," said Alec making them aware of his presence, a cocky lopsided grin firmly on his face.  
  
"Hey Alec, enjoy work?" asked OC smugly.  
  
"Oh, ever so much. By the way in case I forget, thanks for abandoning me with Normal earlier, just when I though that I could at least catch up with my good friend OC on my runs. I guess you just don't value our friendship like I do," he said with mock hurt.  
  
"I guess not, listen Boo, gotta blaze. I'll see you later."  
  
OC grabbed her jacket and hugged Max before giving a general nod in Alec's direction, only to burst into a fit a giggles soon after. Seeing Alec's confusion and checking for something on his face, Max tried to hide her smile but failed. After looking back and forth between them, Alec caught on.  
  
"You told her about the nappies didn't you?"  
  
Max nodded, "I had too," she protested, "I haven't been able to tell anyone else and it was burning a hole inside of me being the only one who knew."  
  
"How? On the drive home alone, you told the guy at the gas station, the waitress at the restaurant, the . . ." Max listened as he went through, what turned out to be a very long list, hanging her head in fake shame. ". . . and they all laughed in my face!" he concluded, waving his arms around for dramatic effect.  
  
"Aww, poor baby. Manticore's finest couldn't handle a little embarrassment." She patted him on the chest. "See ya later OC, sorry we didn't get to finish our little discussion from yesterday."  
  
"'s OK Boo. See ya!"  
  
When OC had left, Alec snaked an arm around Max's waist from behind. "So, did you have a nice day?" he asked, snuggling into her hair. She nodded. "How is Jen? Is she sleeping?"  
  
"Yeah, OC's nappy acrobatics tired her out." Alec rested his head on her shoulder and Max sighed contently. "Alec?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"I've been thinking."  
  
"Aww, I told you not to, you almost collapsed from the pain last time," said Alec sincerely.  
  
Max pulled away, giving him the good old one figured salute and led him to the couch. When settled Alec put his arm around her.  
  
"Do you thing Jen will have our abilities? I mean there is a chance she'll be normal right?"  
  
"Max, can you really define normality?"  
  
"Alec . . ."  
  
"To be honest Max I don't know. I mean there is always a chance that she will be 'normal' but I don't think they're very high. I mean there's no barcode but we don't know if that really means anything and it is really too early to tell. Why, would you really want her not to be able to go all 'Matrix' on people's asses?"  
  
"Alec, don't joke around, I'm being serious," said Max lightly punching him on the arm.  
  
"So am I but Max, it doesn't matter if she does or doesn't. There are pros and cons either way, but if it really matters that much to you, we'll take a DNA sample and bring it down to Dr. Carr and get a DNA work up."  
  
"Thanks," said Max kissing him before snuggling in closer, taking comfort in his nearness. "So what's this I hear bout you and Normal in a passionate embrace?" she asked.  
  
__________________********************_______________________  
  
A/N2: Ok I know that was a little pointless but I need to get things set up to get things going. Oh and until the new chapters start, (Ch 15 being the first) I will post these chapters every Thursday and Monday so look out for them, but don't worry the new chapters are a work in progress! 


	5. Max's Suprise

The Surprise  
  
Chapter 5: Max's Surprise  
  
_________________________******______________________________  
  
Max sat in front of the apartment door with her arms wrapped around her knees and her feet flat on the floor. She was wearing red pyjama bottoms and a grey T-shirt. Her hair was in a loose ponytail with a few strands that had escaped from the band holding them in place tucked behind her ear.  
  
Alec was in the kitchen making coffee for him and Max, both of them enjoying one of those rare moments when there was silence that allowed them to concentrate only on their own thoughts. Alec looked up and frowned when he realised that Max was still sitting where he had left her last night. He hadn't really noticed when he had first got up but that was probably due to the fact that . . . well . . . he had just got up.  
  
Both of them had been up until three in the morning and when Alec had finally went to bed Max had been sitting in front of the door. In fact he seriously doubted that she had even moved an inch, and he knew why. The results of Jen's DNA workup would be delivered toda so after two weeks of waiting Max was really worried so had kept herself up all night. Not that she wouldn't have been up anyway. He sighed, poured a cup of coffee, and brought it over to Max.  
  
"Here." Max looked up and took the cup of him gratefully, giving him a peck on the cheek. "Thanks," she whispered. Alec walked away as he knew that at this stage there was nothing that would make Max feel better apart from having the results in her hand.  
  
"Have you actually moved at all in the past few hours?" he asked, concern evident in his voice. "Yeah, at about six there was a fly that was buzzing about, it had to die," said Max, slipping back into her trance. She had spent the last few hours worrying herself into a frenzy. She still wasn't sure what she wanted the letter to say despite her best attempts at soul searching.  
  
She had watched Jen closely looking for anything that might mean that she would be a transgenic, even though Alec told her that she wouldn't be able to tell until she was a few years older. She had contemplated what it might mean for Jen if she was, if her life would be totally screwed up because she had genetically superior parents. Although Alec had not said anything she knew that he had wanted Jen to have their abilities, knowing that it would mean she would always be able to look after herself and though that idea comforted Max, she couldn't help but remember what a horrible childhood she'd had.  
  
Max's pulse began to race as she heard the elevator doors open and footsteps beginning to walk in the direction of the apartment. Alec was immediately alert too, getting up and staring at the door. Max was also on her feet and opened the door before the messenger began to knock.  
  
Max acknowledged her with a nod, as she knew her from Jam Pony. She whipped the clipboard out of the messenger's hands and Alec tossed her a pen as she signed quickly. "OC wanted to deliver it but Normal wouldn't let her saying that it was just an excuse to chat with her friends," said the girl flashing Max a knowing smile. She handed the envelope over and Max shut the door in her face before she started talking again.  
  
Max moved silently to the couch where she sat down beside a now nervous Alec. Max ran her fingers around the edge of the envelope, which felt like it contained a good few pages thick of information. "So the moment of truth," said Alec weakly but Max hardly noticed as she was concentrating on the package in her hands in a way that was not unsimilar to a soldier sizing up it's opponent.  
  
The large, brown envelope was sealed on all sides and although Max had spent countless hours delivering them she had never realised how intimidating they could be to this very moment. Despite the fact that all she had wanted to do was rip the envelope open to reveal its' contents Max couldn't bring herself to do it. "I can't, you do it," said Max as she gave up trying to summon the strength to open the envelope and handed it over to Alec who ripped it open immediately and began to read aloud.  
  
"Max and Alec, sorry it took so long, had to make sure this wasn't put on the wrong desk. I did a full work up of Jen's blood and DNA she will develop transgenic abilities with time and they will be to the same standard as yours. The abilities will progress in exactly the same way as your own."  
  
Alec stopped after this and looked up to see Max's reaction. She gave a slight smile before motioning for him to continue. "We have also discovered that her DNA has only feline additives, like the both of yours. Otherwise she is a perfectly healthy baby. Hope you got the result you wanted, Sam," Alec finished. He flicked through the next few pages. "They are just all the technical details and results. Shit are you ok?"  
  
"Yeah, better than I expected actually. The relief of knowing pretty good as well," she said with a yawn. Alec smiled and leaned over, and brushed the fallen strands of hair out of her sleepy eyes before wrapping his arms around her. "Get some sleep, even shark DNA needs to rest sometime," he said softly, kissing the top of her head,  
  
Surprisingly Max went towards the bedroom without any argument where she soon feel into a deep, contented sleep.  
  
___________________***********___________________________  
  
Three Months later.  
  
_______________________****************__________________ A girl with long black hair and an athletic figure walked into Jam Pony. She had blue eyes and after looking round the room noting the people, doors and general layout, she walked right over to the dispatch desk as if she owned the place.  
  
"Hey! You with the glasses, can I have a word?" she called out to Normal who was reorganising the employee files. "Sorry, no jobs available at the moment," he said without even bothering to look up. "Actually, I'm looking for someone who works here. Her name's Max, Max Guevara." This however caught Normal's attention and his head jerked up immediately.  
  
He gave the girl the once over as if he was deciding to tell her what she wanted to know or not. "What do you want to see her for?" he asked, curious at why some stranger had come looking for Max. "We are old friends, we go way back. The girl was like a sister to me before we lost touch," she explained, with a smile and a casual stance, quite similar to Max's.  
  
"She's not into today. I could give you her address if you want."  
  
"That'd be great, I really need to talk to her."  
  
Normal began to shuffle through the files on the counter until he finally came to Max's. "Okay, she lives at . . . oh wait I haven't updated this yet. She's living with Alec now."  
  
"Way-hey go Max . . . so can I have that address then?"  
  
"Sure," said Normal rhyming it of without looking at the file.  
  
"Mmm ok then, thanks," said the girl, walking of a little creeped out.  
  
______________________*************______________________  
  
Just for a change, Logan was sitting in front of his computer staring intently at the screen. He had spent the past few months watching Max and Alec, how they behaved around each other, their daily routine and just general stuff that could help him win back Max. At first, he had thought that it would be an easy task but the more time he spent watching them the more he realised that she honestly thought that she was in love with him. Logan mentally 'pahed' at the idea of Max being in love with Alec when he was waiting for her.  
  
He had managed to hack into the surveillance cameras at Jam Pony and had pretty much forgotten about Eyes Only as he struggled relentlessly to think of ways to get Max back. From watching her he had learnt lots of new things about her that he hadn't known before so all he had to do was use them to his advantage and she would be his once more.  
  
That was when he realised what he had to do. The one thing that Max hated the most was disloyalty. All he had to do was make her think that Alec was cheating on her or betrayed her in some way and she would come running to him for support. 'It shouldn't be too hard, he always used to be a screw up. Old habits die hard.'  
  
It would be about here that if Logan was any kind of a man that he would began to laugh evilly. There was silence in the apartment only broken by the tapping of computer keys.  
  
________________________**************______________________  
  
Max moaned hearing the door being knocked. "Piss off!" she yelled rolling over. She had been unusually tired recently and Alec had taken Jen out to give her a chance to get some rest but as the knocking was becoming consistently louder, Max gave in and got up. "Someone is so about to get there ass kicked," she mumbled as she tumbled out of bed, heading for the door.  
  
Max swung the door open and came face to face with the girl who had been in Jam Pony earlier. After studying her familiar looking features, Max realised who it was. "Jondy?"  
  
"Hey Max." As Max flung her arms around her sister, she could not help but feel that something was wrong. "Hmm, after twelve years surely you could have thought of a better greeting than simply 'Hey Max'"  
  
Finally letting go of each other Max stood back and let her sister in. "What can I say; I had other things on my mind on the way over." Jondy rubbed her forehead and when Max saw the worried look on her face, she decided to inquire further.  
  
"Look, as much as I would love nothing more than to sit and have one of those long, girly, heart warming talks about the events if the past few years, I can't help but get the feeling that this is not just a social visit."  
  
Jondy smiled. "Ah I forgot, you always were the intuitive one. Not being one to beat around the bush I might as well tell you that I'm here to bring you back to San Francisco with me." When Jondy saw the look of shock on Max's face, she hurried on before she began to argue.  
  
"Everyone is meeting up there in three days. As you know the transgenic situation is getting out of hand and we have a had a few close calls with this bad ass called White though I'm sure that by now you are acquainted." Max nodded so Jondy continued glad and not having to explain. "We have decided that we have to do something about it. Kat and Zane are pushing for us to go somewhere the other side of the country where he can't find us, so although we still have to make the final decision that is probably what will happen."  
  
Max felt anger bubbling up inside her. She couldn't believe that they were going to hide and that they expected her to all right with it. "No way! We can't just leave them to fend for themselves. Running would be taken the coward's way out and for some reason I seriously doubt that genetically engineered soldiers were designed to run away when things get too hard."  
  
"Look, I know you have a problem with this but we need to look after our own unit and . . ."  
  
"And there is no way that as soon as I get my life back into order and that I am truly happy that I am going to pack up and drag my ass across the country because you are afraid."  
  
Jondy was getting irritated. She knew Max would be against it but this was too far. Was Max so selfish that it did not occur to her that the rest of them had lives that they were going to give up as well? Determined to get Max to see that she could just start a new life somewhere else she decided to challenge what was keeping her in Seattle.  
  
"Give me one perfectly good reason why you can't move and start over." Hearing familiar footsteps nearing the door Max smirked. "I'll give you two."  
  
_____________________***********________________________  
  
Jondy was still in shock by the time she had reached Original Cindy's apartment. Max and Alec had offered their couch but Jondy was partial to the simple comforts like a bed. So Max had phoned OC and told her everything.  
  
Granted Jondy wasn't sure what to expect of Max after not having seen her for twelve years but from what Krit and Syl had said she was too much of a free spirit to be a family values kind of girl. Therefore seeing her with a live-in boyfriend, who just happened to be the twin of her dead brother, and a baby came as quite a surprise.  
  
Original Cindy handed her a cup of coffee. "Thanks." "So you took this whole baby thing hard as well?" she asked eager to get to know one of Max's sisters.  
  
Jondy could only nod. "It took me about five minutes to stop saying 'holy shit.' It was just such a shock to the system, I know that you have known her for ages but surely you weren't expecting it either."  
  
"Not expecting it? That's an understatement, the shock of it all almost turned Original Cindy straight. I'm still not sure how it happened." When Jondy raised an eyebrow OC muttered something about her being too much like Max.  
  
"Look we could talk this to death but you travelled all the way from San Fran so maybe you should get some rest." But Jondy only shook her head. "Nah, like Max I'm also cursed with shark DNA. That's why we were the closest, we always stayed up late, talking. So, tell me what Max is like. I know she is my sister but I don't know the grown up Max."  
  
"Well she is headstrong, always willing to help and unbelievably stubborn. She's the kind of girl that doesn't take crap from anyone and always calls it how she sees it. Although she'd never admit it she is afraid. I know you wouldn't think it but she is." This confused Jondy. "Trust me, after today I find it hard to believe that Max afraid of anything."  
  
"She's afraid of letting people in. She thinks that if she lets people in it will make her weak, that's why she was always so secretive and that's why I think her and Alec ended up together. She had no need to be secretive with him. He knew her past so she couldn't hide it, even if she wanted to. He understands what she went through because he went through it himself. That is why when he first got out they hated each other so much, they both knew that they wouldn't be able to keep each other out and put on that mask that all you transgenics do so well. So when they finally stopped trying to keep up the barrier to hide behind, they realised what good potential there was for a strong, healthy relationship. Not even of the romantic sort, but I'm glad that it did turn out that way."  
  
There was a silence in the room as Jondy thought about Cindy's reflection. "You Cindy are a very insightful person," she finally said. "Well, I have to admit that those little pieces of knowledge are usually best when they are concerning Max and Alec. Those two have so much emotional baggage they need someone on the sidelines to show them what is really going on."  
  
Jondy got up and gave Cindy a hug. "Thanks I really needed that. Now tell me about Alec, I'm sure he is all right cause you seem to like him and it seems like you are a very good judge of character."  
  
"As apparently so are you," said OC, laughing. They both spent the night talking about anything and everything before finally giving in at around three and going to bed.  
  
Jondy smiled as she flopped on to Max's old bed. She really liked OC and it seemed that Max really had made a good life for herself in Seattle. Jondy went to sleep looking forward to catching up with her sister, playing with her niece and interrogating Alec of course.  
  
___________________*************__________________ 


	6. Friends and Siblings

The Surprise  
  
Chapter 6: Friends and Siblings.  
  
Summary: A road trip and finally the story of how Max and Alec got together. Sorry that I gave you a bit in the second chapter and left it there. Okay so this isn't part of the summary but meh.  
  
____________________************________________  
  
Everyone was up when Jondy entered Max and Alec's apartment the next day. Max was cooking breakfast and Alec was sitting on the couch bouncing Jen on his knee, watching TV. "Aren't you a little old for cartoons?" she asked.  
  
"You're never too old for cartoons," said Alec, slightly resentful at the implication. "Besides, they are for Jen." This caused Jondy to roll her eyes and mumble about how guys never seem to grow up. "Jen must really be absorbing it, you know, not even being one and all," she whispered to Max who couldn't help but give a small laugh.  
  
"Yes, cause I can't hear that at all," said Alec sarcastically. "Besides it really is for Jen, she is a genetically enhanced child by the way so I will not have you insulting her intelligence."  
  
Jondy saw that he was watching the old cartoon Roadrunner. "Don't you really want the coyote to get him?" she asked trying to catch him out.  
  
"With all my heart I do. Just once would be enough, as long as one episode doesn't include that stupid blue creature beeping after narrowly dodging a boulder I would die a happy man."  
  
"I thought you weren't watching it?" Realising he had betrayed himself Alec retreated. "I'll have to back to my original reply that you are never too old for cartoons," he said huffily.  
  
"Speaking of original how's Cindy? Was she okay that I just rang her up and sent you over?" When both Alec and Jondy gave her a strange look, she sighed at her pathetic attempt to change the subject and the even worse connection between the two things. "Continue, I just don't like arguments in the mornings."  
  
"Actually I think we are done," stated Jondy, "I'm pretty sure I just won." The triumphant look was too much for Alec to bear. "Well since you are SO mature why don't you explain to the rest of the class how you knew what I was watching?" When Jondy's face dropped, Alec continued. "And how did you know what it was about and share the need to see the coyote get him?"  
  
It was now Alec's turn to wear the smug look. Jondy glared at him and at that moment in time Alec was glad that looks couldn't kill. Max looked between them. "Anyone for pancakes?" she asked almost wishfully.  
  
All of as sudden Jondy started laughing. Seeing Max, who she had always remembered as the tough one with the kick-ass attitude to match in full Susie homemaker mode, with a cartoon-watching boyfriend who had just beat her at her own game, was just to much for her. So she did the only thing her brain could think of to do in what she saw as such a ridiculous situation. She laughed. A lot. So much so that when she had finally stopped laughing (several minutes later) that Max and Alec were sure that there were only two possible explanations. She had either had forgotten to take her medication that morning or had overdosed on it.  
  
Knowing that an explanation would only make her seem like more of a lunatic (if that was even possible at his point) Jondy headed towards the table asking where the maple syrup was, while wiping the tears from her eyes.  
  
______________________***************_______________________  
  
Over breakfast, they talked about their plans for the following week or so. They decided to go to San Francisco to meet up with the rest of Max and Jondy's unit so that they could make a decision about what to do, though Max was still firm that she was not going to 'run away'.  
  
Alec was going to go to Jam Pony to tell Normal that they would be away for a while as he really did not think that them running of again without telling him as going to keep them their jobs. Even if Alec was his Golden Boy, surely Normal was bound to have some limits. For some other reason, unbeknown to Alec, Jondy had decided to go with him.  
  
"So how did you meet Max?" she asked as the walked there. Alec grinned, "When Max got recaptured Manticore there was a breeding program because she had blown up the DNA lab and well she had the good fortune to have me assigned as her breeding partner." Seeing the look of shock on Jondy's face, he continued. "Then she kicked me in the stomach, called me Alec because she said I was a smart aleck and well the rest is history." Jondy raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Well somewhere in between I gave her a virus that would kill her boyfriend, thought about killing her and constantly annoyed her in general. She spent that time hitting me, kicking me in the balls and well . . . apart from a certain lap dance, a lot of physical and mental abuse in my direction."  
  
"So love at first sight?" Alec laughed and Jondy noticed the twinkle in his eyes that made her feel more relaxed with him. "I like to think of it as the bonding period," said Alec. "We just needed some time to get to know each other properly before we realised what we had."  
  
"In all seriousness do you love her?" asked Jondy, stopping. Without the usual mocking smile, Alec turned to face her. "Of course I do, would we really be like this if I didn't?" he asked.  
  
"Hey I'm just looking out for my sister cause I mean I like you Alec, you seem really cool and all but that won't stop me kicking the living shit out of you if you ever hurt my baby sister in anyway. Understand?"  
  
Slightly frightened by the serious side of Jondy, Alec nodded eagerly, and muttered a "yes mam." They began walking again, and there was silence for a few minutes before Jondy poked him in the side. "So if you love her then why haven't you got off your lazy, cheapskate ass and got her a ring?" she asked, back to her normal bubbly self, determined to make Alec squirm.  
  
_____________________**************________________________  
  
"Hey girl! Look who came to see you!" Original Cindy looked up and smiled when she saw Max with Jen in her carrier coming through the door. "Hey Boo, how are you?"  
  
"Exhausted, I spent all morning packing." OC rolled her eyes, "Where are you off to this time?"  
  
"San Francisco, I'm finally going to meet all my brothers and sisters again!"  
  
"Well you better not come back with another child because Original Cindy has decided she doesn't like surprises."  
  
"I doubt I will be gone that long, just a couple of days, a week at the very most."  
  
OC listened attentively as Max then explained about Jondy and the plan. "So Alec and I are going with Jondy to help them come up with a solution that does not involve leaving the rest of the transgenics to fight the cause on their own," Max concluded.  
  
"You know I was just thinking before you came in, it has been over a month since you got back and you still haven't finished telling me how you two got together and it's been a while . . . start from the start."  
  
"Okay, so we had just raided the facility, I had left him behind and when he finally got back. . ."  
  
~~~~##FLASHBACK##~~~~  
  
When she heard the door opening, she ran over, flung her arms around Alec, and hugged him so tight that after a minute he had to say, "Max I may be an X5 and all but much longer of this all the air will be squeezed out of me and then no more Alec, and we all know what a shame that would be."  
  
She reluctantly let go and then pulled herself back to arms length to inspect his body for injuries. He had a minor cut on his head and there was a slight tear in his jacket but apart from that, he seemed fine. "You know Max, I know I'm hot and all but I'm sure you could've found a better time to check me out."  
  
He laughed as she hit him on the shoulder where thanks to her there was a permanent bruise, but she couldn't help but grin the way he managed to make light of every situation. "I'm off to bed, see you tomorrow Maxie."  
  
As he took off his jacket and flung it on to a near by chair Max gasped as she saw blood rushing from his arm from the area where there had been a hole in his jacket. "What?" asked Alec turning round.  
  
"You're bleeding; I'll go get the supplies."  
  
She headed towards the bathroom and came back with bandages, tweezers, cotton wool and antiseptic. "Take off your shirt," she ordered. "Geez Max you certainly do pick your moments," he remarked, earning himself a whack around the back of his head so he decided to do as he was told.  
  
"The bullet hit the bone, how could you not have noticed? For that matter they were only guards, how did you mange to get shot in the first place?" Max demanded. "I mean I know you weren't exactly Manticore's finest but really Alec I didn't know you were slipping that much," said Max as she sterilised the tweezers before putting them into he wound, trying to get a grip on the bullet.  
  
Alec bit back the pain. "Almost as soon as I had taken down the guards, two X-6's came after me and one of them shot me. They might have caught me but when they realised it was me they paused so I used that moment to trip one, disarm the other and run for it."  
  
"There," said Max as she removed the bullet, went, and dropped it into the sink with a clink. "So are you going to admit to other injuries or am I going to have to frisk you?" she asked.  
  
"Well as tempting as that sounds Maxie . . ." Cut off by Max's glare, Alec cleared his throat and did the sensible thing. "No, well none that need any medical attention."  
  
Accepting this, she put antiseptic on the wound before dressing it, without anymore sarcastic comments. "There, you can put your top back on now." Alec picked it up of the seat. "Honestly Max, anyone would think that you didn't enjoy the sight of me half naked." Earning himself another slap Alec then tried to put on his top. After watching these feeble attempts rather amusedly, Max finally went to help him.  
  
She went to pull it over his arm, "Watch it," he yelled protesting.  
  
"Oh for God's sake you are such a baby. You didn't even notice you got shot, you barely winced when I took out the bullet but now you complain?"  
  
"What can I say you have a shitty bedside manner," retorted Alec, trying to move back in an attempt to stop her from pulling it over but Max, merciless as ever went after him causing him to lose his balance. And to Alec's amazement Max let out a scream before going into fits of laughter, as they both went toppling on to the bed, with her landing on top of him.  
  
As such an opportunity would be unlikely to present itself again, Alec unable to resist the temptation began to tickle Max. She gave out an unexpectedly loud girlish scream. "Stop it, stop it!" she begged but Alec carried on relentlessly, not caring for the consequences that this would result in, as he decided it would be worth it. After several attempts to get him off her Max finally managed to flip him over again, and pin him down reversing their positions.  
  
When both of them stopped laughing they realised just how close they were. Max let out the breath that she didn't know she was holding before leaning down and kissing Alec. It was just a simple lip-to-lip kiss then she pulled back to see Alec's reaction. Her only reaction was his lips meeting hers again.  
  
~~~~~~~~##END FLASHBACK##~~~~~~  
  
"Wow, that was so . . . childish, so . . . innocent, so . . . not what I was expecting," said OC.  
  
"Yeah I know, that's what made it so weird. It was as if in that single moment all the bickering and fighting and teasing had all been some sort of unintentional foreplay cause it was something that couldn't have not been realised before. I felt like I was a different person."  
  
"You know Boo, I think you are. You're happier for a start and not always moping about. Alec's different as well but you know we can get into that another time. You gotta go."  
  
Max hugged her and took Jen back from OC. As she was about to leave OC called after her, "And Boo, for the record, Original Cindy saw it coming for months before either of you did."  
  
"Sure Cindy," said Max, closing the door with a smile.  
  
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When Max entered the apartment later that day, Alec and Jondy were sitting on the couch laughing. "That is one of the funniest things I have ever heard," said Alec between laughs. Acknowledging Max's presence he said, "Your sister is just one of the funniest people I have ever met." Blushing slightly, Jondy playfully punched him on the arm. "Well you're not exactly boring yourself, that story about the food fight . . . brilliant."  
  
"Well as much as I hate to interrupt your appraisal of each other we better get going. Alec you take Jen and I'll get the bags." As Max went into the bedroom to retrieve their stuff Alec, Jen and Jondy headed for the car.  
  
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After several hours on the road Alec, Max and Jondy still hadn't ran out of things to talk about. Max had been surprised when Alec let Jondy drive his car but it made sense she guessed, as she knew exactly where they were going so she didn't make a big deal about it.  
  
Jen had slept most of the journey and everyone else was really enjoying each other's company. Max decided to ask Jondy about the rest of her siblings. "So, what has Krit and Syl been doing since I last saw them?" Jondy grinned, "Uh, each other actually." "What?" Max practically yelled. "It's like incest! Are they not aware that they are siblings?"  
  
"Well, they're not really. It was just something that we made up when we were kids to try and give our selves that tiny bit of normality we wanted. We may be as close as brother and sisters but we aren't."  
  
"You know," said Alec. "I always found your whole sibling thing a little . . .off. I tried explaining to Max that yous weren't really related but she refuses to accept it. trust me don't bother you are wasting you breath."  
  
"It's just sick that's all, as you said we did grow up as brother and sister," said Max shuddering at the idea. With an evil grin Jondy said, "Well, family tree-wise you're dating your brother's twin who is therefore also your brother."  
  
There was silence in the car before Max proclaimed that she was very happy for Krit and Syl and saw absolutely nothing wrong with the situation at all. "That's a girl," said Alec patronisingly to Max, before sharing a high five with Jondy.  
  
After another few hours of driving, they were finally there. Jondy stopped the car outside a big house on the top of a hill. The lights were on and Max could see silhouettes moving around the rooms through the blinds.  
  
Getting out of the car, Max took a deep breath as she walked up the driveway. She was worried and excited, she knew they were bound to have all changed since the last time she spoke with them so she really didn't know what to expect. She opened the door and heard yelling. "For Christ's sake Zane, do I have to do everything for you?"  
  
'Then again,' she thought. 'Some things never change.' She paused in the hall, recollecting her thoughts. Max finally, walked into a large room to the left of the hall. It was busy with people running about and she watched in amusement as Jace threw popcorn at Zane and Kat and Krit fought for control of the remote.  
  
She leaned in the doorway, no one noticing her until Jondy, who was carrying a now wide awake Jen, came up behind her. "Max, when the door is open you can actually walk through it. They were made like that."  
  
The noise in the room came to a stop as everyone turned to look at Max. There faces lit up as everyone made a rush to hug her. Syl made it first and Max felt relief wash over her as she let her sister hold her. When Syl showed no signs of moving Zane said, "Oh screw it, group hug!" Not having it in them to disobey orders they all crowded around Max, glad to have their little sister back.  
  
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I know I know, took me long enough, what can I say maths coursework is a bitch. But I am off this week so to make it up to you if I get enough reviews I will post the next chapter like immediately. 


	7. Sibling Rivalry

The Surprise  
  
Chapter 7: Sibling Rivalry  
  
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When the group hug ended, Jondy finally got in the door with Jen. "Whoa Jondy how'd that happen? You were only gone for a few days," joked Kat.  
  
"Very funny, she's Max's." Everyone turned back round to look at Max, surprise obvious on their faces.  
  
"So Max spill, how did you do it?" When Max raised an eyebrow, Jace rolled her eyes. "No details please, just . . ." Alec walked in the door and the majority of the people in the room's heart missed a beat.  
  
"Ben?"  
  
"Oh, no, no, no, no," Alec hurriedly, "I'm his twin 494, Alec for short." After the first, few minutes of everybody staring at him Alec began to feel uncomfortable. "Twin, you know as in looks the same but really not. As in I'm not Ben, I'm his twin," said Alec.  
  
"Alec! Do me favour and shut up," said Max who was worried that he wasn't making the best impression. "You can leave the bags in an empty room upstairs," said Jondy who couldn't stop smiling at her siblings reactions.  
  
As Alec went upstairs, still rambling quietly about twins, Max was left to fill in the past ten years or so of her life that she had gone through without seeing these people that meant so much to her.  
  
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Logan pumped his fist in the air. He had finally done it; he had finally beaten the computer at solitaire. 'Intermediate level here I come,' he thought proud of his achievement.  
  
He celebrated by watching the video clip that he was sure would secure his place in Max's heart once again. He had hacked into Jam Pony surveillance and had been watching it intently for a number of weeks, searching anything that would be of use to him in his little personal mission and so far, he had come up dry. Until yesterday, that was, when he had saw Alec walk in with a beautiful young brunette he had not seen before. She and Alec looked close, they had been talking and laughing and she had left with him as well. Max had been nowhere in sight.  
  
Therefore in Logan's demented little mind Alec was obviously cheating on Max with this woman. He began thinking about the best way to tell Max without letting her think that he was telling her intentionally. 'Anonymous phones call perhaps? No, not very original. I could let Alec know that I know and put pressure on him to tell her before I do. However, that would take too much time.' He went through various other options but due to lack of brain cells, none of them were very good. 'The phone call it is.'  
  
He went to his state of the art phone and messed with the signal so that it could not be traced back to him. After a few rings with no answer, he hung up. 'Ah well, will do no harm to wait. It'll give Alec time to dig himself into a deeper mess.'  
  
Deciding to have something to eat to celebrate his victory over the computer, he went into the kitchen and looked through his cupboards. 'Hmm let's see. Will I have spaghetti or tageatelli? However, I do have penne . . . oh and pasta bows. Aren't I just spoiled for choice! I'll just whip up a nice creamy sauce and fetch a bottle of pre-pulse wine. Why Cale you old charmer, how'd she ever resist you!?' giving himself a wink in the mirror he went back to preparing dinner for himself.  
  
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After staying up most of the night to catch up with her brothers and sisters Max was happy. They were still a little freaked out about Alec but were supportive of her and told her that they hoped she knew she could always count on them if she needed anything.  
  
Alec seemed to be getting on great with them. Upon seeing how close he and Jondy seemed to be already, they had decided that he must be an 'alright guy' so had simply accepted him without any questions asked. The only little blip in the evening was when Alec had been left alone in the kitchen with Krit and Zane. He had came back in looking pretty annoyed and Zane and Krit were looking all together pleased with themselves. 'Probably gave him the "if you ever hurt my little sister" speech,' she thought as she rubbed her eyes. Now at eleven thirty everyone was beginning to get up.  
  
There was plenty of yawning and half-mumbled "Good mornings," as they came in and planted themselves on the nearest available seats. She watched amazed that they could be tired, they were trained to go several days without sleep and they had several hours of it.  
  
Knowing what Max was thinking Jace sat down beside her. "We don't all have shark DNA you know." After another yawn she turned round and yelled into the kitchen, "Where the hell is the coffee?"  
  
"God you sound like Alec. He's not really a morning kind of person either. There is not much talking to him until he gets his daily dose of caffeine," said Max.  
  
On cue, Krit came in with enough cups for everybody with Syl behind him carrying a kettle full of the coffee, which the tired transgenics treated like the divine ambrosia itself, with most of them perking up instantly from their first sip.  
  
Alec came in, taking a cup off Krit before sitting on the other side of Max who greeted him with a kiss. "Morning," she said resting her head on his shoulder and snuggling in closer to him. "Where is Jen, surely she's not still sleeping?" she asked.  
  
"No, Jondy wanted to get her ready, said she wanted to spend some time with her niece," he said.  
  
"Right then," said Kat taking charge and bringing the quiet bantering in the room to a stop. "As soon as JONDY GETS HER ASS DOWN THE STAIRS, we can start to discuss our course of action."  
  
"Kat, it's too early. Can't we wait until we are all awake?" whined Syl, with her eyes still half closed. Kat ignored her and when Jondy did appear within a minute of Kat yelling for her, she decided to continue any way.  
  
"As you know there is only one idea that has been put forward so far and that is for all of us to move to the other side of the country where it is highly unlikely that White will ever be able to find us again but none of you seem to agree. As much as you hate my plan none of you have came up with another solution."  
  
Choosing this moment to appear with Jen, Jondy rushed into the room giving Kat an apologetic look. Giving Jen to Max, she hurried over and sat down on a stool in the corner.  
  
"We cannot just sit around and wait for a solution to present itself. Therefore unless anyone can come up with a better idea that is what we will be doing," Kat concluded.  
  
"Wait a minute did I miss something?" asked Jace. "Why should we do what you tell us to? You're not our CO."  
  
"Yeah but Zack is off tending pigs and someone had take to charge and I am the oldest," she argued.  
  
All hell proceeded to break loose as everyone started arguing about who should be in charge.  
  
"Well I was acting CO," said Jondy putting in her bit.  
  
"Well I was SIC and with Zack down that puts me in," was Max's argument.  
  
This went on for another few minutes or so with everybody putting their own case forward until Alec got tired of it. "That's enough!" he yelled. The room became silent as everyone stopped bickering and turned to look at Alec.  
  
"For the love of God yous are all acting like children! You can't just fight about who is going to be the leader all the time, you should be beyond that. Now if you want to play soldier and pull rank I got you all just by experience among other things so how about you all shut up, sit down and listen to each other and act reasonably. You call each other brother and sister and yet you fight like cat and dog."  
  
"Hey," said Jondy. "Haven't you ever heard of sibling rivalry?" This lightened the mood considerably and everyone calmed down and decided to talk things through rationally.  
  
"Everyone put in any ideas they have, decide what's best, take a vote and majority rules," said Alec calmly as if he was talking to a bunch of three year olds rather than the fully trained super soldiers that filled the room.  
  
"Look," began Max. "I think we, all of us, should go to Seattle. We need to take action against the familiars and the only way we can do that is with an army. Since Manticore is just outside of Seattle most of the transgenics ended up there, I think most of them live in and around Terminal City so it shouldn't take too long to round them up. We could work with them and devise a plan to wipe out the familiars before they come after us. Plus with us all in the one place it will be harder for us to be picked off one by one, safety in numbers and all that."  
  
Everyone looked around at each other to see what everybody else thought. Then, slowly everyone began nodding.  
  
"Sounds good to me."  
  
"Hell yeah, a plan I can relate to."  
  
"Finally, someone with a good idea."  
  
"Let's do it."  
  
"Seattle here we come!"  
  
Then they all turned to Kat. After much consideration she smiled, "Count me in. thank god someone else took charge. You all know I'm more of a take it easy girl anyway," she said as everyone began laughing and joking glad to have finally decided on something.  
  
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"Is anyone else a bit pissed off that we have only been here one day and we are already heading back to Seattle?" asked Alec who started loading up the car with their bags and a few other of Max's siblings.  
  
"Oh sorry, well I'm sure we can push back wiping out a race so that you can have another few days in San Francisco," said Max. "I was just saying," he mumbled. "Are you trying to tell me you aren't just a little bit annoyed that you didn't get the chance to climb the Golden Gate Bridge?"  
  
"No, after all I never said we wouldn't be making a little pit stop," said Max, leaning back, allowing Alec to wrap his arms around her and pull her close, something he tended to do more frequently recently and Max was not going to complain. She needed a bit of comfort now and again and Alec could be really sweet when he wanted to, well when he wasn't busy being a smart- ass. She turned around, put her arms around his neck and kissed him, only stopping when Krit and Syl started clearing their throats loudly.  
  
"If you don't mind we have to share the car with you so if you could kindly refrain from doing that it would be greatly appreciated," commented Krit.  
  
"Oh please! Don't pull that with me! You know as well as I do that yous are just after doing the exact same thing upstairs," said a knowing Max, slightly miffed that they had to stop.  
  
"Yeah but at least we had the decency to do it in private," said Krit.  
  
"Just get in the car," said Max, opening the door, and ruffling his hair as he got into the car.  
  
Everyone had started preparing for the journey to Seattle once they had ate breakfast. Krit and Syl would be going in Max and Alec's car and Kat, Jace and Jondy where in Zane's. They would have to leave their bikes in Jondy's garage.  
  
Max had been amazed when she found out that the house had been Jondy's. It appeared that her sister had been doing pretty well for herself. The house was huge, hey, it had been big enough to house the nine of them and the gardens were quite big as well. Jondy apparently had a great legal mind and had spent quite a number of years as a lawyer.  
  
Everyone was nervous about the journey ahead; in a way, it almost felt like going back to the beginning. They had managed to lead relatively normal lives and now they were off to fight side by side with the rest of their kind, an act that would distinguish then from the ordinaries for the rest of their lives.  
  
The drive itself was enjoyable, both parties telling more stories and sharing past experiences with Syl just doting on Jen. That night everyone crowded between Max and Alec's which was claustrophobic at the best of times when there was only the three of them and Original Cindy's place as no-one felt like splitting up too much for the purpose of comfort.  
  
Soon the floors were covered with empty sleeping bags, blankets and pillows as everyone was on top of the Space Needle. They stood in silence for ages, just watching the lights of the city and the people passing through the different streets, and the thick fog that seemed to loom over tomorrow's destination. . . Terminal City.  
  
"So really," asked Alec. "What is it about you people and heights?"  
  
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Woo Hoo! People started reviewing again! I was all lonely for a while. Ok so there ya go, see I told you the story had a plot! So you know the drill, give me a couple of reviews and I give you a new chapter. It only takes me like fifteen minutes cause all I have to do is re-write it. I'm telling you this whole thing is much easier the 2nd time around! 


	8. Tough Crowd

The Surprise  
  
Chapter 8: Tough Crowd  
  
A/N: OK so this chapter took so long because well, it was just awful! The entire thing basically had to be re-written, but don't worry if you are re- reading cause the same stuff basically happens but well better, but on the upside it's longer than the original. Oh and thank you so much for the reviews they were very much appreciated! *cough do it again cough*lol, well you heard the woman.  
  
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The next day everyone was ready to go and Max had taken OC up on her offer to baby-sit as she thought that having a baby in her arms might not make her seem very persuasive, not to mention the chemicals she could be exposed to in Terminal City. Max just wanted to be sure that it was safe before she brought her daughter there for any amount of time.  
  
Max was really worried, this was the first time she had left Jen with someone that wasn't Alec and she couldn't help but feel kind of panicky, even though she was sure that her best friend would do a great job. 'Well as soon as she gets the hang of nappies anyway,' she thought with a smile.  
  
Nevertheless, with the help of Alec, she had somehow managed to leave Jen and head out with the others. As they walked up to the gates of Terminal City, everyone was quiet and a little creeped out. Before they had even gotten within a metre of the gate, a shotgun was pointed at them through a hatch. "What do you want?" asked the owner of the gun, sending a puff of smoke out of the hatch and towards them.  
  
Max stepped forward, turned round and lifted the hair of the back of her neck showing him her barcode. "We are X-5, we want to talk."  
  
"About what?" came the snappy reply.  
  
"About organising a course of action that could save our kind," said Max diplomatically.  
  
"Our kind?" the gate swung open and the transgenics came face to face with what appeared to be a sort of lizard nomilie who was puffing away on a large cigar. "That's rich," said the talking lizard. "How about you go two streets down and cross over to Oak Street and talk with 'Your kind' as I'm sure you will find them much more co-operative."  
  
"Well you don't seem to be interested so I think we will just do that," said Alec stepping forward and taking Max by the arm before she could protest signalling for the others to follow.  
  
As soon as they were out of sight Max pulled herself out of Alec's grip. "What the hell Alec? Why did you give up so easily I'm sure we could have persuaded them to at least here us out!"  
  
"And I'm sure we couldn't have because from the way the cigar smoking lizard guy was talking, I kinda got the feeling that they were all nomilies in there and they don't exactly have 'warm and fuzzies' for the X-Series. We were always put ahead of them at Manticore so I seriously doubt that since they don't have to put up with that anymore that they are going to take orders from us."  
  
Max was getting angrier by the second and the patronising tone Alec had used when talking to her had not exactly helped. "Well done Alec, you have just proven them right and it is that type of prejudice that will prevent us from winning this war. We can't afford to fight against ourselves."  
  
"Just when did you start sounding like you should be working in the White House? But that's not the point, perhaps if we go and sort things out with the X-Series and get them to go along with our plan we can come back to Terminal City and show them that even though we have 'our kind' on our side, that we still want them as well. Oh and we can mention the fact that we came to them first, which should also go down well. It would probably make them feel needed, more important and a way of showing that it will not be the same as at Manticore, that they will be treated as equals."  
  
There was silence as Max thought this over. She looked round and everyone else was nodding, showing their support for Alec's plan. If she tried to undermine Alec by putting his plan down and making up one of her own, it would just be because of her own stupid arrogance and she would be throwing a perfectly good idea out the window. She just hated admitting that she was wrong.  
  
"Fine," she said "but if we can't get them I'll blame you," she added, irritably, avoiding the fact that Alec had came up with a better plan than she had. She marched on down the street, fully assuming her role as the leader.  
  
"Like I didn't know you wouldn't anyway, Your Highness," he mumbled causing Jondy who was walking beside him to giggle.  
  
"Why did you put up with that?" she asked curious to know why Alec hadn't questioned her being mad at him when it was so blatantly obvious that she knew it was the right thing to do.  
  
"It's just typical Max. When she's wrong she doesn't admit it and blames it on someone else, usually me. But I've got to admire that about her, and also I have the self satisfaction of knowing I got one over on her," he said grinning.  
  
"Even still, it's a little much don't ya think?" asked Jondy, genuinely concerned.  
  
"Nah," said Alec. "Just wait 'til you see her whip these X's in to shape you'll see it's just that wonderfully aggressive part of her personality," he said wanting to get away from where the conversation had been headed, it was making him feel a little unnerved.  
  
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Flashing their barcodes was all that was required to get them into the transgenic facility, which was guarded by X-6's. once they were admitted they went straight to headquarters with no intention of signing in, as they had been told to do, but under the general assumption that this is were the leaders of the group would probably be residing.  
  
"Well we probably all shouldn't go in," said Jace, as they all stood outside.  
  
"You're probably right, it might look like we are ganging up on them and I'm guessing they wouldn't respond to that to well," said Max. "Krit, Syl, you're with me. The rest of you just hang about and try not to make too much trouble," she said staring at Alec.  
  
"Maxie, Maxie, would I ever?" he asked innocently.  
  
"Just . . .be good," she said walking off.  
  
They had been sitting about for a while when Alec heard a familiar voice behind him. "Well, well, well, look what the cat dragged in." Grinning, Alec was immediately on his feet hugging the man who had said it.  
  
"How's it going?" he asked pulling back.  
  
"Not to bad, so are you going to introduce me to your merry men or what?" the man asked, with a twinkle in his eyes.  
  
"Hey, everybody this is 536 now known as . . ."  
  
"Matt," the X-5 filled in for his old friend. "And what do you call yourself these days?"  
  
"Alec."  
  
"Isn't that the name the rogue gave you?"  
  
"Yeah well it suited me."  
  
"Oh my god, Max named you?" asked Jace half-laughing.  
  
"Ask Jondy," said Alec rolling his eyes thinking that Jace must have been the only not to have been told the story that had caused everyone else to roll about in laughter.  
  
"Strange company you're keeping these days Alec, the 09 escapees?"  
  
Alec nodded. "I'm taking it that you still know Max then?" said Matt.  
  
"He got to know her a little too well actually," joked Kat, tucking her red hair behind her ears. "Allowing Manticore to get their way I might add. You know thinking about it, it just shows your dedication to Manticore, finishing the job you never started and all that," she teased.  
  
"Dude you knocked up 452? . . . I mean Max," he added when he noticed everyone glaring at him. "Geez, tough crowd," he said feeling rather uncomfortable after having pissed of several X-5's.  
  
"So where is she now? I mean the rest of the Brady Bunch are here," he said.  
  
"Wow, first merry men, now the Brady Bunch, what a wonderful sense of humour you got there," said Zane sarcastically.  
  
"Yeah," commented Alec. "I personally like to think of them as the Von Trapps. I mean, just look at Kat, doesn't she just look like she's ready to burst into a verse of 'My Favourite Things?'" said Alec, who earned himself a slap around the back of the head from Jondy who was the closest.  
  
"Hey!" protested Alec, rubbing the back of his head. "What is with you people hitting me all the time? I am going to have to have a serious word with Max for starting such a painful trend."  
  
"Good to know that I am not the only one that offends them, so where is . . . Max?" asked Matt.  
  
"Her, Krit and Syl are in trying to reason with your leaders," filled in Jondy, as Alec was still attending to his 'wound.'  
  
"Holy shit, I mean I always thought you 09ers were a little 'off' for the lack of a better word, but now I know you're friggen crazy!" said Matt, who was suddenly the subject of many warning glares.  
  
"I mean you sent three people that we were trained to see as traitors in to try and negotiate something, God only knows what, with three true blue Manticore loyalists?" said Matt hurriedly, trying to say something that could possibly remove the foot that seemed to have permanently wedged itself into his mouth.  
  
Without giving the others a chance to react, Alec was running in the direction of HQ annoyed that he hadn't foreseen this complication.  
  
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Frustrated, Max hit the desk in front of her. When they had first entered they had been asked to state the designations and out of sheer courtesy they had, but as soon as Krit had got out his last digit, they were asked to leave, before Max had even got a chance to start the rant she had planned about the importance of names. Things had gone considerably downhill from there.  
  
After the first fifteen minutes or so of shouting matches, the leaders of the X-Series community, two X-5's and an X-6, had just sat down and ignored them, continuing flicking through an assortment of papers that were on their desk.  
  
No matter what Max, Krit or Syl said to them they would just sit calmly at their desks and Max was about breaking point.  
  
"Look you are going to listen to me and pay attention or else I am going to shove my foot up your . . ."  
  
"Now, now Maxie no need to get violent," interrupted a familiar voice coming from the door. Max spun around to see Alec walking into the room with his usual lopsided grin firmly in place.  
  
The chorus of "sirs" that came from the previously silent transgenics startled her. When she turned around, she saw that they were all standing and saluting Alec and beginning to state their designations.  
  
"X-5 296, Sir!"  
  
"X-5 679, Sir!"  
  
"X-6 472, Sir!"  
  
Sending a questioning look at Alec who simply shrugged it off, she stepped back wondering to see what would happen next.  
  
"At ease soldiers."  
  
Amazingly, they complied and Max watched in awe as Alec took them to pieces. "Could one of yous please inform me why you were not paying attention to this young lady and her friends?" he asked calmly.  
  
The 'young lady' comment made Krit snort and earned himself a nudge from Syl and a glare from Max.  
  
"Sorry sir," said the elder of the X-5's, X-5 296, "We were not aware that she was worth listening to, Sir. As you know we were trained to see her as a traitor and it could have been an attempt to . . ."  
  
"Well remind me where you are 296, are you in Manticore?"  
  
"No, Sir!"  
  
"Then why would you assume the rules for the real world are the same as those for a government facility that planned on keeping us locked up for the rest of our lives, until this young woman in front of you and me, let us all free, giving us all our own lives, and a mind of our own. I would not advise taking what Manticore trained you to do as the gospel, because from where I am standing it would appear that she is worthy of out respect or at the very least listening to."  
  
"Yes sir,"  
  
"Yes, Alec," he corrected. "Once again, we are not, I repeat not in Manticore. You should address me as Alec. That is my name and you should have. . . oh dear lord I have spent too much time with Max," he finished with a panicked look on his face.  
  
"Hey, don't say it like it is a bad thing," said Max.  
  
"Look just do me favour 269, call a meeting for five minutes, okay?" he asked, trying to be as casual as he could in an attempt to feel like Alec again.  
  
"Well, you know they say everyone turns into their other half eventually," said Krit. Alec frowned at him, "Not funny," he said and headed toward the door. "I think you can take it from here Max," he said quickly leaving the room allowing them to laugh.  
  
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Ten minutes later just about every X-Series Manticore had ever created was outside headquarters ready to hear what was to be said. Alec got up first to 'warm up the crowd,' as he had put it, for Max as he wanted to make sure they didn't have a repeat performance of HQ.  
  
A lot of the transgenics saluted but Alec soon told them off about that.  
  
"Ugh, this is going to take a while. Look I have said it once, and I will say it again, this is not Manticore, you don't need to salute, or take orders anymore. You have been out in the world for well over a year now, and what have yous done with yourselves? You have just created another Manticore, only without all the testing and fun we got to have in phys-ops. I know it's difficult to adjust, but you do have to, Manticore shouldn't be able to rule your lives now unless you want it to and you shouldn't because getting out of Manticore gave you a life.  
  
I know most of you are probably looking at me now thinking, 'Wow he has really gone of the deep end, he is even crazier than Manticore let on.' But that was just something Manticore told you and like a lot of other things Manticore drilled in to you, it is not true.  
  
For instance, you were led to believe that this group of people, the '09 escapees are traitors but they are not, they are just a unit that saw what Manticore was doing to them and decided that they would not stand for it and they went and lived the way people are supposed to. And we are people, not just soldiers.  
  
I know many of you are bitter because we paid for their escape, we were treated far worse than before and trust me I know, as one of their twins, I spent six months in phys-ops for it, but we need to put that bitterness behind us. They do care or else they wouldn't be here now trying to help you and you need to let them.  
  
Also from an encounter with a group of X-6's I know that many of you believe that Manticore was attacked, when in actual fact Manticore locked the doors and set fire to the building in an attempt to cauterise the site, just because their location had been broadcasted. The only reason you are all here is because of Max, X5 452, yes that's right, an 09er saved you lives," he added after hearing many murmurs from the crowd.  
  
"Then a cult called the familiars set up a signal calling you to a location where they planned to finish the job. Many soldiers lost their lives before 452 changed the signal telling you to go to ground, once again saving you lives. It is this cult, the familiars that have brought us here today. I should probably go on but Max, 452, is going to take over and you should listen to her and respect her just as you did to me."  
  
He stepped back allowing Max to obtain the attention of the transgenics. He gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder, and se smiled gratefully at him. She didn't want to have to deal with a whole load of aggressive transgenics.  
  
"As Alec said the familiars are the reason I am here today. I will go into details later but basically they are this cult with one purpose in life, to rid the earth of transgenics. The main bulk of this movement is led by a man called Ames White with whom I am sure many of you have had a few run ins with.  
  
There have been many situations that have been too close for comfort and they are always one step ahead of us, each time striking in a different way. And I don't know about you guys but I'm pretty sick of it, I did not go to all this bother to finally be free from Manticore hunting me down, only to have to start running all over again from a bunch of loonies.  
  
Therefore, I think it's is time we took action and took a stand attacking them before they attack us. I know it's considerably risky, but if we can do this, if we can pull this off then we will and that will be the end of it. If we can't it will be the same process, they will still kill us off, we would only be prolonging the inevitable.  
  
But just think, if we do win, we will finally b free. Free from Manticore, free from the familiars, free to live our own lives, the way we were meant to. If you are with me, you are with me and if not I would advise that you think about your priorities.  
  
All of us talked it over and we think we should join with the nomilies and all live in terminal city, strength in numbers and all that. There we can work out a proper plan to kick White's ass. I mean the finer details still have to be worked out but we can't do that for all of you, I mean who are we to order you about, you all have more military experience than us, all we are saying, wait no, asking, is that you think about it."  
  
She left them a few minutes to think about what she said as she saw that she had really struck a chord with them and could tell that they were all considering it.  
  
"Wow Maxie, never knew you had it in you," said Zane who was quite impressed.  
  
"That makes two of us," she said.  
  
"I think you should talk to them again, they look about ready," said Syl.  
  
Taking a deep breath, Max went back to address them again. "I take it you have all made your decision so I think we should vote, majority rules. All those in favour of raise your hand."  
  
Max smiled as every hand she could see went up, she looked round at Alec, who was grinning at her. "And all those opposed?" she asked confidently. When no one raised their hands, Max's smile got even bigger. "In that case it is settled, we will fight the familiars for our lives and our future. If anyone has any personal belonging they want to bring I advise they gather them. We'll come back tomorrow, but first I have to go fight with a talking lizard."  
  
Max stepped back allowing Alec to run over to her and lift her up in a giant bear hug. "You did it," he said putting her down and kissing her. Max looked down meekly at her feet, "Look I'm sorry about earlier I was just been stubborn and I didn't occur to me that you had thought about it so yeah, I'm sorry and I couldn't have done this without you. I seriously doubt that they would have paid any attention to me if it wasn't for you."  
  
"Excuse me while I faint, did big bad Max just admit she was wrong, that I was right, and then apologise to me?"  
  
Max punched him on the arm. "Don't get used to it," she said grinning. "But I do mean it, I couldn't have done it without you barging into HQ and making asses out of those X's."  
  
"Yeah well, thank Matt; he was the one that pointed out to me that they weren't going to accept any authority from a 'rogue'."  
  
"You know, I think I will," she said going up on her tippy toes and giving him a quick peck on the lips before rushing of to talk to everyone who were standing talking to who Max assumed was Matt.  
  
Jondy who had been watching this little make up session walked over to Alec smiling. "So I see Max has apologised, well that is always a good sign," she said.  
  
"Yeah, I just wish she would learn to trust me and have no reason for to apologise."  
  
__________________********************____________________  
  
After this Max and Alec went back over to Terminal City leaving everyone else to make sure everything went accordingly. It was a cool night and Max and Alec walked slowly holding hands, enjoying one of those rare moments when it was just the two of them.  
  
Once again, they were confronted by the lizard man, "What do you want now? I thought I told you . . ." He dragged of as Alec held up a packet of cigars. "Yeah, yeah to talk to our 'own kind' we've been there done that. They are in, what about yous?" asked Max.  
  
The lizard just stood looking at them, with an expression, that could only be guessed was surprise. "How about you let us in, and we talk some things out over a couple of cigars, eh buddy?" said Alec. The gates opened and the lizard man introduced himself as Mole and began to show them around.  
  
Terminal City was cold and if possible drearier than the rest of Seattle. There were many large big rooms/buildings but most of them looked run down and falling apart. It was very messy with large pieces of junk and debris lying around but it was much bigger than were all the X- Series had been so it would do fine.  
  
They had been talking things over with Mole, he had been telling them about how they ran things in Terminal City, and Max and Alec had been filling him in on White and their general plan.  
  
"Well, do you think we can work together?" asked Alec.  
  
"You know," said Mole, putting his feet up on a near-by desk and puffing away on his cigar, "I think we can."  
  
"So, can everyone move into here? It's bigger than over on Oak Street, and is much more suitable for what we plan on using it for," Max said, asking Mole after double-checking with Alec.  
  
Mole paused for a moment in thought, blowing another puff of smoke at them. "And we will be treated as equals with the X-s?"  
  
"Yep, I can guarantee it," confirmed Max.  
  
"I will have to talk it over with everyone else but I'd say the chances are good. We were beginning to get a little bored around here."  
  
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A/N: Ok, so here's the thing. I finally remembered the password to my old account so I am going to start re-posting there, because well it's my name and it has more reviews. The only problem is that all the chapters are already posted there, but they are the old shit ones. So therefore, I am going to take a little break, rewrite, and repost everything there, right up to chapter 14, so after that you won't have to wait on updates . . . well apart from the new chapters obviously! So I will get back to you with more details about that as soon as I can. It's just that it might take a while, but as I have no upcoming coursework it shouldn't be any longer than about . . . two weeks maybe. Please review! 


	9. Author's Note: Details of New Chapters

Author's Note

Ok, so it may have taken longer than expected, mainly because I got hit with a shit load of coursework for various subjects, but I finally got all my chapters reposted up to Chapter 13 at my old account. So you will be up to speed and I can start posting the new chapters. Ok my pen name there is Dominique1 so if you search for it you will find it no probs and I will be posting all new chapters there. Also I didn't need to re-write after Ch10 so nothing has been changed there so the A/N's are pretty old. Please review all the 'new chapters' it would be very appreciated.

Thanks Dee


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